I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a field of medical instrumentation and, more specifically, to an apparatus for aiming a needle when such needle is used in penetrating a body to reach an internal object.
II. Prior Art
The use of a needle to penetrate a human body is a well-known medical practice. Some typical uses for such needle penetration are for injections, removal of body tissues and fluids, and diagnostic probing. When a specific internal area is targeted as the destination of the needle, some means must be used to determine the disposition of the needle once it is in the body cavity.
One such procedure utilizes a fluoroscope. An x-ray beam is projected through the body and a fluoroscope is used as a receptor of the passed beam. The collected beam is intensified and then processed for video display. The resultant image is projected on to a viewing screen. The image presented by the x-ray scan provides a two-dimensional picture on the screen. Structures, such as bones, obstruct the passage of the x-ray beam and present a more distinct image on the display. Vascular structures, on the other hand, are only transiently opacified by the injection of a dye. Then the needle is inserted into the body at an angle from the access of the beam such that the distal point of the needle can be guided to the target by viewing the display screen.
However, free hand needle puncture of small targets under fluoroscopic control may require multiple needle passes to properly reach the target. The difficulty arises because the person performing the penetration must simultaneously observe the screen to determine the progress. This free hand procedure is further complicated because the three-dimensional penetration is being observed as a two-dimensional image. The freehand procedure is time consuming due to its trial-and-error technique of reaching the target.
It is appreciated that what is needed is a more objective approach of accurately reaching the target by requiring only a single pass of the needle.